5 Memorable Stories With My Fiancé

1. Date Night- I flew to Groton, Connecticut to visit Jemiel sometime in 2005 and Jemiel asked me to bring a dressy outfit for dinner because he wanted to take me to a nice restaurant—so we got all dressed up and as he was getting ready, he accidentally shaved of half of his goatee. Oops. So I hear him fussing, and I rush in and ask him what happened. He turned around and I cracked a smile and said “oh. Well, just shave the other side off too!” So he says “you think so? Okay.” Then 5 seconds later “#%$#*! This looks stupid!!!” I actually thought it looked good, but what do I know? Anyway, we finish getting ready and the rest of the night went just as smooth as possible. We went to Mediterraneo’s in Providence (45 minutes away). It had a nice atmosphere, great food and we were treated like royalty. I felt like the staff was there only to wait on us when the place was buzzing and packed to capacity. Only J. Rose could pull something like this off...oh and the goatee grew back 

2. Seeing Jemiel for the first time without an afro. 2002. WOW. All I could do was smile. But let me go back to Fall 2000. This is when we met—and when I met Jemiel, he had either an afro or cornrows (done really neatly). I had never seen him with a Cesar (haircut). Plus he was a young buck when I met him and barely had peach fuzz on his chin. So all I remember is this transformation from Jemiel the boy to Jemiel the MAN. I saw him all dressed up at a Coronation Ball for our school’s royal court (he was an escort for one of the queens) so not only did he have a haircut, but he had a SUIT on AND a full goatee. Whaaaaaat? Is that Jemiel from Atlanta? In something other than a jersey and matching hat and kicks? “I had to be taken seriously at my (NASA) internship” he later told me. But I remember saying to myself WOW. Jemiel looks GOOD!

3. Surprising him when he went back to school Fall 2004. So the fall rolls around and it was time for Jemiel to go back to school. I had already decided that I was going to move to Los Angeles, and had said my goodbyes to Jemiel the day that he left to go back to Tallahassee (which he took as our last visit before I move to Cali). What I didn’t realize, was that 2 of my friends were driving down to Tallahassee for the weekend and coming back to Atlanta just in time for me to make my flight. So I called my friend Traci to see if she could help me coordinate a surprise for Jemiel. I really wanted him to have no clue, so when he called me, I played along like I was in Atlanta packing and preparing for my trip, when in actuality I was about 30 minutes away from his front door. So I get to Tallahassee, Traci picks me up to take me to where he is, and we walk up and knock on the door. At this point I am giddy, and Traci has a big grin on her face too. What happens? Jemiel opens the door…makes a face that looks like he has seen a ghost…and then slams it in my face! Traci and I paused with a confused look and then we just busted out laughing! Then he opens it back up with a half confused half curious look. He then says “what are you DOING here??” All in all, he was really excited to see me and happy that we could spend a bit more time together before my big move. I love surprises but at that point I didn’t realize that Jemiel? Not so much. LOL.

4. This is just to state all the places Jemiel and I have been to together: New York NY, Las Vegas NV, Valladolid MEX, San Diego CA, Los Angeles CA, Catalina Island, Turks & Caicos, Atlanta GA, Tallahassee FL, Chicago IL, Fayetteville NC, Kansas City MO/KS, Olathe KS, Ensenada MEX, Providence RI, New Haven CT, Manhattan Beach CA, Groton CT, Newport RI, Santa Monica CA, Playa Del Rey CA,